Family theory: Canadian double murder was robbery gone wrong

The family of Chynna Deese suspect she and her Australian boyfriend Lucas Fowler were murdered in a robbery gone wrong. Her brother, Stetson Deese, opened up about his free-spirited sister.

• Murdered Lucas has travelled to Canada for love
• Sydney officers assist in Canada murder investigation

The brother of Australian Lucas Fowler’s girlfriend Chynna Deese believes the couple were murdered in a robbery gone wrong.

As new details emerged of the horrific double shooting on a remote Canadian highway, Stetson Deese said the fact that only his younger sister’s passport was found meant they had probably been held up.

Chynna Deese with her brother Stetson Deese. Picture: Facebook

In a phone call from the US yesterday, Mr Stetson said: “If that’s all they found it means they were robbed. There could have been a wallet, but the passport was the only ID.”

The bodies of Mr Fowler, 23, son of NSW police chief inspector Stephen Fowler, and Ms Deese, 24, were found on The Alaska Highway in northern British Columbia on Monday not far from the blue van they were travelling in on an Alaska road trip.

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Meanwhile, a third body was found on the same road about 700km away at Stikine River Bridge at a highway rest stop. Police have yet to say if it is linked to the double murder.

Mr Deese, who was out of town when police informed his family of the murders on Wednesday, said he had not been fully briefed and he was struggling to accept that the couple were dead because “it didn’t sound real”.

He said the pair were deeply in love since meeting at a ­Croatian hostel in 2017 on Ms Deese’s first big trip overseas.

“They were a travelling ­couple and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they got married,” he said.

“They were both really nice and that’s what brought them together — the last people you would expect this to happen to.”

Piecing together the last movements of Lucas Fowler and Chynna Deese.

Mr Deese said he was a passionate domestic traveller and that “me and Chynna were known as the travellers” of the family.

“She saw me doing that and she decided to travel the word … it inspired her to travel,” he said. “She told me that she just loves to travel and she saw how happy it made me to go other places and do other jobs.

Ms Deese and Mr Fowler took a road trip to the South Americas, which worried Mr Deese.

“We told her not to do that but she was fine,” he said.

“She had to drive through Mexico and Central America, It seems like that would be more dangerous than Canada.

“When she was in Canada we didn’t think too much about it.

“We talked to her and pretty much we didn’t think it was that bad.

“There’s things to worry about everywhere but in the summertime a lot of people take road trips in Canada — it’s one of the best places to visit, regular people do it.”

Lucas Fowler and girlfriend Chynna Deese. Picture: Supplied by family

Mr Deese said he and Chynna were “very, very close”.

“She was free spirited, an Aquarius,” he said. “Very free spirited and just lived in the moment and a people person (that) people were instantly drawn to.”

“It’s going to be a big funeral, she was extremely popular.”

While the couple’s initial plans were to travel to Alaska, Mr Deese said they “could have been going anywhere”.

“They were spontaneous and didn’t always have a plan,” he said.

Chynna’s father Dwayne Deese told The Charlotte ­Observer that authorities took three days to identify the bodies, suggesting the deaths were violent and their identification was stolen.

“I think of someone who has been convicted of violent crimes before, someone on drugs,” Mr Deese said.

“What worries us is that person is still on the loose and they have a head start.

“This is going to happen again. There needs to be some kind of a warning system in place for tourists.”

While Canadian police have refused to publicly reveal the cause of death, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones said the pair were shot in “horrific circumstances”.

“Our understanding is that they were with a vehicle and it appears they may have been shot at that ­location,” he said.

Mounty spokeswoman ­Sergeant Janelle Shoihet said a serial killer was not believed responsible, but added: “We have not and will not be ­confirming manner of death at this point.”

Mr Fowler’s father Stephen, a chief inspector at Hills District Local Area Command, flew to Canada with other family members “to be with our boy and to bring him home”.

NSW police have sent two homicide detectives to assist.